NAGAPATTINAM: Around 250 fishers in 29 fishing boats from Nagapattinam and Karaikal have been advised to wait at the emergency halting points at harbours away from their home till the weather clears.
At least 24 trawlers from Karaikal and five trawlers from Nagapattinam are yet to return to their hamlets.
The boats had gone for fishing in the Palk Straits, dozens of nautical miles south-east of Kodiyakarai a few days ago, before the cyclone alert was sounded.
"The fishers from Nagapattinam reached Kodiyakarai coast on Tuesday evening. We have asked them to stay there and wait for the weather alerts before making a move. If the cyclone is heading anywhere close towards Nagapattinam, we have asked them to go to the harbours in Jegathapattinam (Pudukkottai district) and Mallipattinam (Thanjavur district)," said R Amal Xavier, the joint director of fisheries department in Nagapattinam.
The five boats from Nagapattinam had about 50 fishers while the 24 Karaikal boats had about 200 fishers. There were some rumours about fishers missing from Karaikal on Tuesday morning. The officials have ruled them out.
"We have established contact with all fishers. None of them is missing. All are safe at the moment. We have asked them to move to Jegathapattinam and Mallipattinam straight away as they were fishing close to those places. They can start towards Karaikal when the weather becomes normal. We have intimated the administrations of Thanjavur and Pudukkottai about their arrival," said R Kaviyarasan, deputy director of fisheries department in Karaikal. Both officials added the fishers are unable to travel fast due to rough sea and strong winds.